August 22

Distance: 21.2 miles | Ascent: 2610′ | Descent: 5630′

Mile marker: 1004.8

Lunch: J – mac n cheese and taco (A, B+), A – spaghetti mac (B+)

Dinner: J – chili and rice (B), A – coconut curry dahl (A)

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After getting to camp in the dark last night, we slept in an extra 15 minutes and had pancakes for breakfast (single-serving cups of pancake powder, meant for microwaving, mixed with boiled water). The 3-day food carries are nice because we get more treats rather than prioritizing small foods that fit in our bear cans. The morning breeze was unusually warm, an ominous sign for the day. As we hit the trail, the others at the camp, two northbounders, hadn’t stirred in their tents yet. Sometimes we envy the slower pace of the NOBO hike, although we do not regret our decision to hike SOBO.

It was a fairly gentle, rolling climb out of our campsite. We crossed a few lakes tucked in the notches of the hills and some small springs to get water. Still, the terrain was noticeably drier than recent days, with lizards replacing chipmunks.

The day grew hotter and hotter. We reached our peak then had a steep six-mile descent down into Seiad Valley. This is where we had originally expected to find the blowdowns that had surprised us last night. Fortunately, downed trees were far and few between. It was the heat,  exposure, and constant downhill (rough on sore and swollen feet) that made it challenging. Even with light packs, it was just hard. Type 2 fun, perhaps. Maybe Type 3.

Finally, we reached the road and walked into “town,” which wasn’t more than a post office, convenience store, and diner all crammed under one roof. We quickly got our milkshakes and a root beer float to share before the diner closed (A+s all around). We got our package from the post office and sat in the 100+° shade to rest. Several other hikers came through. Some we recognized as fellow southbounders and were glad to see. Others were new northbounders who were wary of our southbound ways. We got an icy cold 12-pack to share with the crowd but, shockingly, few takers. Apparently, there’s a permanent trail magic angel named Brian up the road that fattened all the northbounders with beer before they got there.

After several hours, some cloud cover appeared, and we set out to make it to the campground near Grider Creek. It was a road walk to get there and we crossed our 1000 mile mark during it. Not the most scenic, but you take what you get, I suppose.

We were carrying the remainder of our 12 pack with the intention of either restocking the trail angels fridge or dropping them at the trailhead. Before long, we found the all mighty Brian’s Place!

Brian was the most chilled out dude. And super accommodating to hikers. He had a fridge full of cold drinks, free wifi, porch chairs. He lets people use his bathroom and even sleep on his porch. He is the model citizen for Seiad Valley and the highlight of our time in this weird “town.” He said it wasn’t a BYOB place and we were only the 2nd group to ever bring him drinks (the first was a group of Belgians and Germans with one American). It was an honor to set some sort of record.

We couldn’t stay long. We knew the next day featured a long and steep climb with 6 miles of blowdowns and overgrowth. The heat wave wasn’t letting up for a few days, so we were planning to get a super early start to tackle as much distance as we could before getting roasted. To help, we had hiked in some energy drinks from the Seiad Valley convenience store.

We hiked along the road as the sun set before making it to the campground and setting up in the dark. We scarfed down a quick dinner, more excited about sleep than food. As we got into the tent for a short night of sleep, we placed our energy drinks within arm’s reach to ensure we would get up and moving the next day as early as planned.